The Republican National Committee invited eight candidates to the first debate in August. Candidates qualified by getting 40,000 donors (with 200 unique donors in 20 different states) and by hitting a polling threshold that sees them clear 1 percent in a handful of polls.
But there was some controversy: A handful of low-polling candidates claimed to meet the requirements — including Perry Johnson, whom POLITICO initially deemed qualified — who didn’t get an RNC invite, raising questions about how unpredictable and arbitrary the committee’s decisions will be for future debates.